NHS musical features 'love rectangle'

Norwalk High School students Anna Little and Jalyn Moore are best friends. And their bond has helped them offstage as they rehearse their dancing for the musical “Peter Pan.”

“Jalyn is like my BFF. We talk about everything. We are in select choir together,” said Little, the daughter of Jeff and Amy, who plays Peter Pan.

“The accent is the big part. Sounding like a boy (while singing) is a challenge for me. I have to work on that,” added the NHS senior, who is challenged in singing with a “boy-ish tone.”

Moore, the daughter of Ken and Shelly, plays Tiger Lily.

“She and Peter I feel like have a history. She is in love with Peter,” said Moore, who describes Tiger Lily as “a stubborn, take-charge type of leader.”

It’s a challenging characterization for the junior, who isn’t normally very aggressive.

“When I feel passionate about something, I go for it,” Moore said.

As she said, there’s a love triangle involving Peter Pan and Tiger Lily. Or as Little calls it — “a love rectangle.”

“It’s like a love rectangle really,” she said. “Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily and Wendy all are in love with Peter at some point or another and Peter doesn’t really love them like that.”

Senior Logan Hurst has to channel his inner villain as Captain Hook. That’s a change from last year’s “Suessical the Musical,” when he was Horton. Hurst described the character as a “happy-go-lucky guy.”

Luckily, the senior has played a bad guy before that though. During his sophomore year, he was Jud Fry in “Oklahoma.”

“He was just mean, mean, mean; that’s all he is,” said Hurst, the son of Greg and Amy.

There’s a manic nature to Captain Hook.

“One minute he’s yelling at all the pirates and the next minute (he’s) cowering in fear, asking for protection from the other pirates because of the alligator. The alligator is what ate his hand. You just flick a switch and you have to be a different person,” Hurst said.

Cast members of “Peter Pan” consider the progress they’re making with the music and the energy from the actors and actresses playing the pirates as the best parts of the musical right now.

“The pirates are setting an example for the rest of us of how to be energetic on stage,” Little said. “We’ve got a handle on the music, I think.”

“Peter Pan” will be presented March 15 through 18. General tickets are $8 while the VIPs are $15, which includes access to the “VIP lounge” in the art gallery of the Ernsthausen Performing Arts Center.